The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors are preparing for a bounce back year in 2014

Four offensive linemen return including center Ben Clarke, who was a two-time honorable mention all-Mountain West, as he’s started all 24 career games.

The quarterback position is up for grabs as two-year starter Sean Schroeder exhausted his eligibility, but third year head coach Norm Chow does have some viable options, which is important to consider when making your college football predictions throughout the year.

Senior running back Joey Iosefa is the main player to handicap on this side of the ball, as he helped the program rush for 789 yards on 188 carries and seven touchdowns, while averaging 197.3 yards per game over its final four games of the season.

It’s important to point out that Hawaii’s offense produced 40 touchdowns and 45 overall scoring drives in its final nine games in 2013.

Defense

The Rainbow Warriors are looking to play better up front, especially since they allowed 214 rushing yards per game a year ago, as they welcome back two starters on the defensive line.

For a defense that allowed 38.8 points per game, Hawaii can barely afford to lose its top two tacklers, but many believe UCLA Bruins transfer Jeremy Castro may be the type of player to lead a turnaround.

Schedule

Chow will need to have his roster ready from the opening bell, considering the program welcomes in a pair of Pac-12 Conference teams (Washington and Oregon State) in the first two weeks, which is important to consider when making your college football picks.

Hawaii will also play its first road game against the Colorado Buffaloes in Week 4—before enjoying its first bye week.

It’s hard to imagine that the squad wins more than four games this year, especially since three of its final four games are played off the island.

Outlook

There’s a reason to be optimistic that this year will be the start of a turnaround for a once proud program, but the offense will need to protect the football after being minus-10 in turnover margin in 2013.

Iosefa will need to carry the load early until Chow finds his trigger man, but wide receiver Scott Harding is a player to watch on the perimeter, as he caught a team-high 56 balls.